Marks & Spencer opens across Finland and Norway as part of European expansion September 17, 2014 Marks and Spencer is set to open its first shop in Scandanavia next month as it marches ahead with its European expansion. The high street retailer said yesterday it will open 15 franchise stores across Finland and Norway, with the first shop set to open in Helsinki next month. The 32,000 square feet store will [...]
Next profits to speed ahead of M&S yet again July 29, 2014 CLOTHING chain Next yesterday hiked its full-year profit forecasts for the second time in three months after another strong quarter, placing it further in the lead against rival Marks & Spencer. The retailer, which has 700 stores in the UK and overseas, raised its pre-tax profit guidance for this year by £25m to between £775m [...]
Marks & Spencer boss Alan Stewart jumps ship for Tesco after sales drop July 10, 2014 Alan Stewart, chief financial officer at Marks & Spencer, is leaving the struggling retailer for supermarket giant Tesco, it was announced yesterday. Stewart will fill former Tesco CFO Laurie Mcllwee’s shoes at the retailer, where his pay packet is set to rise from £579,000 to £750,000 a year. Mcllwee stepped down from his role at Tesco [...]
Marks & Spencer asks for more time as new website hits sales July 8, 2014 Marks and Spencer boss Marc Bolland yesterday called for more time for the effects of the retailer’s website overhaul to take effect after the high street stalwart posted its 12th consecutive quarter of falling non-food sales. The 130-year-old retailer broke away from its technology supplier Amazon and launched its own custom-built £150m website in February, [...]
The Marks & Spencer AGM: Shareholders vent frustration as promises fail to deliver July 8, 2014 “We'll be home by Christmas!” That tragically optimistic prediction made by soldiers marching off to war in 1914 jumped to mind yesterday when Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland stood up in front of shareholders at a hall within Wembley Stadium and pledged to have the website returning to growth in time to enjoy [...]
London Report: Airline decline and M&S worries keep the FTSE in the red July 8, 2014 A PROFIT warning from Air France-KLM yesterday hit airline stocks and dragged the FTSE down by more than one per cent. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 1.25 per cent, or 85.06 points, to 6,738.45 points. International Consolidated Airlines Group – the owner of British Airways – slumped seven per cent to 335.90p, the worst-performing [...]
M&S is having an identity crisis: Only radical action can save it now July 8, 2014 Thousands of articles have been written about, and just as many reasons given for, the ongoing struggles of Marks & Spencer (M&S). The latest one, given only yesterday by none other than the chief executive himself, Marc Bolland, was the “settling-in” period of the new website. This, of course, is balderdash, or at least peripheral [...]
How could Marks & Spencer improve its website? The web developer’s view July 8, 2014 Marks & Spencer announced today that the new M&S website has failed to perform, with a fall in online sales of 8.1 per cent, and with the development project going over budget by 50 per cent. Since the new site launched in February, customers have taken to the company's Facebook page, Twitter and web forums [...]
Marks & Spencer website nightmare knocks share price: Here’s what the analysts say July 8, 2014 Marks & Spencer's long-awaited website overhaul has failed to perform. The company announced that online sales have dropped by 8.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 June. The retailer excused the performance as a "settling in" of the new M&S.com site, which cost the company £150m. Marc Bolland, M&S chief executive, says that [...]
Marks & Spencer reports 1.5pc fall in underlying sales July 8, 2014 High street retailer Marks & Spencer has released its quarterly figures, revealing a 1.5 per cent fall in underlying sales. The results, which are for the 13 weeks to 28 June, also show that like-for-like sales of clothing fell by 0.6 per cent, marking three straight years of quarterly falls for the division. [...]